While almost everybody is spending 95% of his opening preparation time on major lines, there are some tricky players including strong GMs (I am not an exception) who prepare for their opponents some side lines, which contain many an underwater reef. I decided to collect those secondary openings in one single DVD. From now on openings such as the Pirc, the Scandinavian and the Alekhine Defences will not appear to you in your nightmares any more. The 1.e4 player should be actually thank Black for choosing these openings, since he is providing White with a better centre, a stable advantage and generally speaking pleasant play. The only thing White needs to do is to spend some time studying the lines. I will not bother you with encyclopaedic approach. There is a more practical way.

In this DVD, Sam Collins offers another way. Discussing sound, aggressive lines, all with regular top-level support from GMs Tiviakov, Howell, Pavasovic and others, Collins breaks down each position into its key components and explains the core plans and ideas, together with enough theory to avoid any accidents and catch your opponents by surprise.

Many players struggle to find solid openings to play as Black, especially if they have relatively little time to study theory. This DVD addresses this problem, presenting a solid and easy to learn Black repertoire against White’s two main opening moves, 1.e4 and 1.d4.

1.Nf3 - a variable Repertoire for White is the name for a comprehensive opening system strategy based on security and choice.
The old maxim of perceiving 1.e4 openings as tactical and more dangerous as opposed to the more positional and peaceful 1.d4 openings no longer reflects the modern world of chess openings.
This repertoire DVD is the fruit of a lifetime's experience, as the author Lubomir Ftacnik uses it actively in his practice.
The system gives all White players the chance to fine-tune the level of exposure and risk

For young and developing players a very important piece of advice is to study open positions and to understand the value of coordination of the pieces plus the role of the centre. These goals can be achieved just by answering 1.e4 with 1...e5. Some players claim that these positions are not sharp and interesting enough, and they believe that different Sicilians should be one’s choice, but that is not completely correct. The idea of this DVD is to show that 1.e4 e5 can be extremely entertaining and that Black can obtain interesting counterplay in every opening. There are two lines proposed in the Spanish systems plus the most active alternatives against other white choices. Video running time: 6 h 48 min.
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System requirements
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard

A new interactive training course that includes over 5,000 of the best mate studies ever! These mates are classified by the number of moves that it takes to achieve mate, by the number of pieces on the board and also by authors.

Martin describes the main themes and ideas of the Gambit and gives sound guide lines, so that any one who wants to play for the initiative with Black and play the Benko Gambit, will be very well equipped.

The ABC of the Caro Kann describes a repertoire for Black which will stand the test of time and the main ideas and themes of the opening are explained in Andrew Martin‘s usual friendly, accessable style.

On this ChessBase DVD, International Master Andrew Martin makes a compelling case for playing the Leningrad in competitive games and demonstrates that this is the ideal opening for players willing to embrace risk and who like to WIN.

On this Chessbase DVD, International Master Andrew Martin will teach you all the nuts and bolts of this fascinating opening, showing you when to duck and when to punch with Black and tackles some of the most critical move-orders of the day.

Advanced Chess School by Convekta is an interactive tutorial for inexperienced players, both children and adults, who have already learn the rules of chess and now wish to become players of intermediate strength.

This course features about 400 exercises with large number of pieces in play. All exercises are taken from actual games. Find the only way to avoid checkmate! This course is for beginners and club players.

Many chessplayers consider Albin’s Countergambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5) nothing more than a relict of romantic chess, connecting with it – at most – the names of the old masters like Lasker, Aljechin, Janowski, Marshall and Keres.

World Champion Alexander Alekhine dominated the chess scene from 1927 until his death in the year of 1946. Historical picture documents and more than 2000 Alekhine games make the great master come back to life.

This is The standard to witch all pieces should be compared.
I own 3 sets of these pieces, Black and White, Black and Natural and Red and White, the oldest I've had for over 20 years and they still look as good today as they did 20 years ago.
I have large hands, and the 4" pieces go beautifully on a 2.25" square board.
In a single word description, " Timeless! ".

This is a very nice set. I purchased it to play with my kids who are good chess players but still young (less than 10). My only complaint would be the pieces are a little lighter than I'd like. Outside of that, the pieces are very well made and look extremely nice.

A decent set, although inexact repro of match of '72. The rooks' elevated "teeth" (the tops) can be delicate. Mine have fallen on concrete patio floor and have broken off one or two, so beware blitz players. Now I will tell you a trick for the natural colour pieces (if that's the ones you order):
If you leave them out in the hot sun, say on the rooftop of your house for 2-3 weeks, they become a nice warm, toasty color. Very nice.
Cheers,
-Hrislov

This is a very accurate (as far as I can deduce from photos and films) reproduction of a BCC set. There have been no 'improvements' to the design from the original, thank goodness, except for the fact that the knight tops are now carved of wood and not molded plastic, which the originals were. I definitely prefer the wood. The uniformity of the carving is extremely high. The pieces have a strong board presence (to borrow a phrase), and the proportions are ideal one to the other - from my point of view. This means that one is spared the distraction of having any one type of piece be too large or two small during play. A satisfying sense of harmony is achieved, which is conducive to good concentration during live games. This is by far the favourite of my many House of Staunton sets with which to play actual games with. You may view examples of original versions of these pieces in the movies 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (Hammer Films, Starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee), and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' starring Gary Oldman.

This is a wonderful set for the collector who prefers a distinctive chess set for a modest price without having to in purchase a more expensive exotic wood for the dark pieces. Such a nice diversion from plain old monotone light and dark pieces!

I have purchased several plastic chess sets in the past, so far this has the best finishing of them all, not the say the best design also (except for the bishop, I like sleek bishops), the pieces are beautiful, even better than some other weighted sets, perfect for clubs and kids (not for you if you are looking for weighted pieces), beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and one thing I forgot to mention this set is beautiful.

H.O. from ND writes, "Received my beautiful ebonized Winsor chess set today. It is awesome. A work of art I will treasure & play with. I can't wait to save up enough for my House of Staunton chess board."

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Welcome to the official website of House of Staunton, The House of Staunton has firmly established itself as the gold standard by which all chess pieces, chess sets and chess boards are judged. All of our luxury chess products, including our chess pieces, chess sets and chess boards, have been produced with the discerning chess collector in mind. We adhere to the highest quality standards and our master artisans handcraft our chess sets, chess pieces and chess boards out of such luxurious materials as Porcelain, Camel Bone, Genuine Ebony, Walnut Burl and fossilized 40,000 year-old Wooly Mammoth Ivory. We invite you to indulge yourself and discover what countless other Chess enthusiasts know - The House of Staunton offers the finest Chess pieces, chess sets and chess boards - bar none!

Why settle for less when you can own a legendary Chess Sets and Board from the House of Staunton!